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3 out of 5 Black Women Have Experienced Abuse, Linked to Obesity

July 18, 2012 | Jamila Akil |

Researchers finally have proof of what many have suspected, and what others have experienced but had not data to back them up: high levels of physical or sexual abuse while they are young is linked to an increased risk of obesity among adult African American women.

Boston University researchers discovered the link between obesity and childhood abuse in the first study to ever look at enough African American to reach a statistically significant result.

The researchers used the Black Women’s Health Study, an ongoing study begun in 1985. In 2005, 33,298 women responded to questions about childhood physical or sexual abuse. Nearly 58% of the women reported at least one instance of abuse as a child or teen, and 11% reported severe physical or sexual abuse.

“Severe abuse was positively associated with depressive symptoms, smoking, body weight and inversely associated with being married and household income,” the researchers.

Not surprisingly, some researchers suggest that one plausible explanation for the link between childhood abuse and adult obesity may be that those who are experience abuse as children eat as part of their coping mechanism. Either the children eat to feel better or, in a more direct mechanism, the children eat in an attempt to make themselves less physically attractive to their abusers.

Childhood abuse is associated with negative health outcome besides obesity. “Severe abuse was positively associated with depressive symptoms, smoking, body weight and inversely associated with being married and household income,” the researchers wrote. One in 10 black women has experienced what would be considered severe abuse.

It should be obvious that one way to reduce not only obesity rates, but smoking and depression rates, may be to figure out ways to ensure that black women grow up in stable home environments devoid of abuse–whether that abuse occurs inside the home, or outside of it.

@DeepWater There are so many different reasons bw are overweight & obese & the fact is many of them have been discussed here. I’m about 40 lbs overweight & an currently trying to get that down before I can conceive b/c if I’m overweight when I get pregnant it reduces the amount of weight I’ll be able to gain as a pregnant type 1 diabetic. Weight is serious issue in the U.S. & to talk about one aspect of why ppl gain while ignoring others is disingenuous. Our commenter down below should have looked through this blog before she started talking out of her behind. I’m not overweight b/c of abuse I’m overweight b/c I been busy falling in love & just enjoying that & let exercise & diet fall by the wayside. Yes, I did like twinkies too much. LOL. But I’ve seen & hear it myself from bw that abuse happened to them & they ended up using food as a drug. I’m not happy about this, but I would certainly like bw suffering like this to know they are allowed to seek help if need be. It’s okay, they can be vulnerable & get the help they need. There was a program on Discovery awhile back, it doesn’t come on anymore called ‘Heavy’ showing ppl’s journeys to lose weight. Many of them had issues that caused them to start over eating. It’s not pretty but pretending this might not be happening to some ppl is just sick & another way to put bw in the sucky role of ‘super women’.

DeepWater

@eugeniaberg

Exactly……….this is my answer to DeeDeeRussell MixedUpInVegas regarding what you are talking about in “above” statement (literal comment positions may change)

Yeah, not everyone, but a lot Black women in my family do have weight issues and now, looking back in retrospect, I have to wonder about uncles, cousins (immediate near and far ties), folk by marriage and so on as to what may have happened in their lives in order to “let themselves go”…………I’m considered “slim” in my family and that I’m not “healthy” enough, not “big” so to speak, which on my mom’s side is code for “you’re not eating enough, why come you don’t eat (enough)?”

“Fat”, I believes, is a form of hiding as well as a form of addiction. To hide from said possible “internal” predator or predators, family in-fighting, or pure self-hatred from the aforementioned……..frankly, I don’t know, but now makes me question some behaviors I’ve seen from individuals within my family…………..behaviors I have always thought were questionable………….may now have to check some of this out.

@Toni_M @DeeDeeRussell
It’s OK to disagree with other commentors, but why whine about their position in a discussion? Make your point and STFU about the points made by others. Nobody says anyone has to agree, but belly-aching that others have differing opinions is just dumb!

@MixedUpInVegas @Toni_M Hey didn’t you get the memo? All BW are suposed to think alike!

DeepWater

@DeeDeeRussell @MixedUpInVegas Yeah, not everyone, but a lot Black women in my family do have weight issues and now, looking back in retrospect, I have to wonder about uncles, cousins (immediate near and far ties), folk by marriage and so on as to what may have happened in their lives in order to “let themselves go”…………I’m considered “slim” in my family and that I’m not “healthy” enough, not “big” so to speak, which on my mom’s side is code for “you’re not eating enough, why come you don’t eat (enough)?”

“Fat”, I believes, is a form of hiding as well as a form of addiction. To hide from said possible “internal” predator or predators, family in-fighting, or pure self-hatred from the aforementioned……..frankly, I don’t know, but now makes me question some behaviors I’ve seen from individuals within my family…………..behaviors I have always thought were questionable………….may now have to check some of this out.

If this is true, at least for persons where abuse is a direct link to their obesity, I honestly suspect that weight issues would not be resolved until mental and emotional abuse issues were first resolved.

It’s like any other drug: Being used to cope with an extremely unpleasant situation. Once that hurdle has been cleared, if someone was really serious about weight loss, I imagine it would be much easier.

I’m sure that there are persons who can and have successfully tackled their weight issues. But even so, that’s something that shouldn’t be left unaddressed in someone’s life.

Hmm, that sounds a bit contradictary: What I mean is that weight can be thought of as a major side-effect for such persons but not the root problem. That would be emotional and mental issues resulting from the abuse that lead to the phyiscal issue that is their obesity.

All three should be addressed for maximum success at improved quality of life.

VintageNarcissa

@Toni_M “If this is true, at least for persons where abuse is a direct link to their obesity, I honestly suspect that weight issues would not be resolved until mental and emotional abuse issues were first resolved. ”

And that is precisely one of the main reasons why these issues are so rampant, because in the BC it is equally believed that going to therapy are things ‘white people do” and that black people (women) are strong enough to suffer through whatever happens to them. Clearly not.

Oh yes it begins! During my year of field research about AA elder abuse I discovered that many of the abusers of AA elders are obese women, daughters of the elder! Guess what else? Most of them confessed to being childhood sexual abuse survivors!!

But the crazy and yes I said crazy Black collective doesn’t give a damn about it as Black girls get scant protection from predators. And by the way? WHO loves Black single mothers the most? WHO wants BW to stay single mothers??? CHILD MOLESTERS.
I digress!
After 25 years of OPRAH you’d think BP would be in a space where they could just admit it!

@BlackWomenDeserveBetter You’re right and you have no idea the opposition I have encountered during my field research. I swear BP are for want of a better word very crazy, not all but too many. Want to sweep everything under the rug except the mistreatment of BM then its “lets talk about it” otherwise…women and girls are catching hell and stress eating? They don’t really care want to stay mum be in denial. But…when mama’s not happy nobody’s happen hence the Black community today.

@MixedUpInVegas Some, not all, Black people are just nuts and want to stay that way. 25 years of Oprah spilling her guts about various abuse has taught us what exactly? Bunch of victims protecting the abusers, very sickening. I know there are lurkers reading this and grinning knowing that they are evil, knowing they’ve abused and gotten away with it. Knowing that they continue to abuse.
Mothers it’s that serious! Please watch who is around your kids it goes without saying if an adult is TOO eager to watch & be alone with your kids they are suspect! Nanny cam!!

Some BW are very pleased when men take an interest in them and volunteer to babysit. BW take the blinders off! Most men do NOT want to babysit kids!

@eugeniaberg @DeeDeeRussell Your mother was right but too many BW lack common sense throw kids to the wolves..ooops, I mean that new boyfriend, his buddies, uncle, cuz, etc. Too damn trusting. Notice the lack of response on this thread? @MixedUpInVegas

Thank you for this article. I know not all bw who are overweight have issues regarding mental health. But I’ve said it before that ppl who are overweight and specifically obese are not that way b/c they really like the taste of twinkies. People have all kinds of ways that they avoid their suffering, food is just one of the many drugs ppl use. I have heard this from overweight & obese bw with my own two ears that sexual and other forms of abuse are why they became overweight and started overeating. BW are suffering all types of abuse emotional, physical, verbal & sexual and way it is showing up is in our health physical & mental.

Bren82

I know that sometimes food is a drug for me especially if I’m stressed.

This doesn’t really prove that women gain weight because of childhood abuse. It shows a correlation not causation. It could just be that another factor like poverty, not being cared for by parents etc. could be the cause for both the abuse and obesity. Correlation is not causation folks. There are many things that contribute to obesity so this is just theorizing at this point.

I already know people are gonna want to go to war over this article. I have already given up the ghost regarding other people’s lives and choices. I can only do my best to change and work on myself, same as every other individual person.

Look: You know yourself better than ANYONE else. You know the truth of why you are the way you are and if you *don’t*, it’s because for whatever reason, introspective is very unattractive to you, and that in and of itself is telling.

Whatever issues, be they physical, mental, emotional-they will remain until YOU take the initiative to do something about them. And if you don’t want to, that is completely your choice. No one is gonna fight you over it. No one is going to struggle to carry you across a finish line for a race you aren’t interested in.

All the love and concern or anger or impatience or burying loved ones decades too soon or threats of lost limbs and lowered quality of life or lower pool of mates is, in the end, useless to people not interested in hearing any of it.

And if that’s you, understand that it’s you. There are black women who are VERY concerned about this, open to it, and do not need you to stand up and preach about how you are gonna _______ because _______ . Don’t tell us, show us, please.

The bottom line: You know who you are and you know why you are and until you elect to change or if you elect not to change, that’s on you.

Please do not hijack this post as a glorified soapbox to try and silence us because you’re tired of us telling you something you for whatever reason couldn’t be bothered to scroll past. It’s simple: There are tabs up top, please use them, and leave this post to actual participants. Not polite poisoners, not trolls, not persons clearly disinterested in health concerns regarding black women.

I already know people are gonna want to go to war over this article. I have already given up the ghost regarding other people’s lives and choices. I can only do my best to change and work on myself, same as every other individual person.

Look: You know yourself better than ANYONE else. You know the truth of why you are the way you are and if you *don’t*, it’s because for whatever reason, introspective is very unattractive to you, and that in and of itself is telling.

Whatever issues, be they physical, mental, emotional-they will remain until YOU take the initiative to do something about them. And if you don’t want to, that is completely your choice. No one is gonna fight you over it. No one is going to struggle to carry you across a finish line for a race you aren’t interested in.

All the love and concern or anger or impatience or burying loved ones decades too soon or threats of lost limbs and lowered quality of life or lower pool of mates is, in the end, useless to people not interested in hearing any of it.

And if that’s you, understand that it’s you. There are black women who are VERY concerned about this, open to it, and do not need you to stand up and preach about how you aren’t gonna _______ because _______ . Don’t tell us, show us, please.

The bottom line: You know who you are and you know why you are and until you elect to change or if you elect not to change, that’s on you.

Please do not hijack this post as a glorified soapbox to try and silence us because you’re tired of us telling you something you for whatever reason couldn’t be bothered to scroll past. It’s simple: There are tabs up top, please use them, and leave this post to actual participants. Not polite poisoners, not trolls, not persons clearly disinterested in health concerns regarding black women.

Thanks!

P.S. Play nice please. o/

Cocuya

@Toni_M This is one of the reasons why I do not discuss obesity/weight in the black community (or obesity in American in general) on ANY of the discussion boards I’m on. Everything is now reduced to “fat shaming”. This topic hits too many hot spots for people. Of course, I’m not trying to derail or say that this shouldn’t be discussed here. I just know that, among American women in general, there seems to be a vested interest in defending fatness.

All I know is that when I see young black adolescent and teenage girls walking around with upwards of 150+ pounds (which is more often than not), SOMETHING toxic is going on. And it cannot be excused by “genes”.

cns

Yes, I actually hear about this first hand from an obese white woman. She had the prettiest face and I could not understand why she let herself go. She revealed that her father sexually abused her and the abuse didn’t stop until she started getting fat. Even years later married with children she said that she was afraid to lose weight out of fear of being sexual abuse by another man. This gave me a different perspective when I saw obese women. It make me think of the movie Precious(which I did not see)she had been brutally raped by her mother’s boyfriend which produce 2 children and when her abuser went to jail her mother began to physically and verbally abuse her. I know that is a movie, but that is real life for a lot of young black girls.

@cns Yes it is real life for a lot of young black girls which is why so many sick mofos in the Black community insist on BW being single, for easy access to the children! Hiding in plain sight. Single mothers ARE preyed upon. Two parent households afford more protection.
It is sick and a damn shame that in 2012 we as a people are so backwards regarding these issues.

Oneof thegirls

I remember this topic from a few months ago and seeing it covered on some talk shows years ago. I think it is important to compare what obesity is in other countries. This obesity thing is not a worldwide issue. It’s a shame that it is normalized though. I remember Monique’s miss PHAT and some of the women were off the chart obese. I cannot see why that much fat is something to celebrate. These women were under 45. I am glad the root causes of some of this weight is being talked about again. I will show others where it comes from.

Up until now I have been an occasional lurker, but I am so discussed with some of the comments on this article I had to say something.
First let’s not accept all statistics on the strength of our willingness to believe them. Let’s remember that correlation does not equal causation. Poverty is also linked to obesity, abuse and weight gain. Level of education is liked to abuse and weight. This is to say that being abused is not necessarily the cause of obesity for the majority of Americans. What was the average age of the women interviewed, what was their level of income and education? All of these things play into obesity. It’s complex issue and to take so much glee as some commentators on this site have is to moralize the issue and miss the point.
There is a clear line being drown in this comment section between ‘good’ thin people/ parents and fat ‘bad’ people. Yes, some parents are neglectful and some children suffer abuse, but to generalized that every or even a majority of obese African American women are somehow severely abused is an extreme overstatement and could be more damaging than helpful.
Weight is constantly associated with stereotypes –fat or obese is often associated with stupidity, laziness, lack of self control, and now abuse and depression. If a person has all this going on than losing weight does not ‘fix’ these problems it just makes judgmental and superior feeling people feel more comfortable.
I am fat, size 16/18 230lb, and I have never been abused my family is fairly thin and my mother is a single parent. I was not raised on little Debbie cakes and fast food. My mother worked long hours shopped at farmer’s markets and made home cooked meals. My weight is my own and I hate the idea that I could walk into a doctor’s office and the doctor sees my brown skin and big body and automatically think ‘let’s talk about your sexual abuse’!? It is hard enough to ask for help with weight loss without people looking down on you and diagnosing problems that may not be there.
I have fat black female friends raised in two parent homes that go to the gym and eat only organic and I have thin friends who don’t speak to their parents and abuse alcohol. I know these examples are antidotal, but the point I’m trying to make is there are many experiences that bring people to their state of health. Looking at someone from the outside is not the proper or intelligent way to go about it.
If you are truly concerned talk to those people don’t sit on your high horse and look down at someone going on about how pathetic they are. If you are worried about child’s safety say something it is so easy to look down at others and that’s the exact reason that people get abused and live with mental illness unaddressed.

@XgreengreenX , read my comment down thread and apply usage of it. I am not going to rant at you. I am only going to say this: I am nobody’s mammy. If you aren’t interested in your own health and lifestyle choices, it’s not my obligation to convince you. If that puts me on a “high horse” then I’m gonna stay there.

There are too many people who act like it’s someone else’s responsibility to politely and sweetly convince them to work on themselves. I’m not here for that.

If this conversation bothers you that much, you are MORE than welcome to look for other things to read. There is a series of tabs at the top of the page: By all means, follow links to more pleasant or comfortable discussions.

People need to realize that these topics aren’t going away. If you don’t feel comfortable talking about them (especially, as you elaborated, since this is NOT you), you are not obligated to do so. Just don’t come in here and try and shut down and shame away discussion.

Please do not confuse the members of this community with the DBR child-predator protectors in Blackistan who will look the other way regarding child abuse. Acknowledging a reality is not the same as condoning it, and I RESENT the implication that discussing why obesity is a problem amongst black women is the same as abuse or discouraging mental health treatment.

I’m tempted to call you a liar because we’ve had multiple conversations saying the exact opposite. Saying you’ve been reading for _________ long will give you ZERO credibility if the next thing you say after this haphazard disclaimer is the equivalent of spitting in the eyes of everyone here.

Not the best of introductions. Perhaps in the future, you could try and not make it sound like you’ve not taken anything discussed here to heart and sold everyone ridiculously short.

XgreengreenX

@Toni_M
I do not know nor did I claim to know all of the topics discussed on beyondblack and white, Hence my disclaimer that occasionally look/lurk read an article and move on. I don’t take Issue with the study they can interpret their data any way they want.
My issue is with the apparent, expressed by tone, glee some commentators seem to take in having negative suspicion confirmed. Most of these comments amount to “I was right single parent homes and molestation is the reason why the black community is fucked up.” There is a self congratulatory tone that is nauseating given the seriousness of the issue.
Disagreeing with the general tone does not make me a troll. Trolls typically say things only to incite anger, that was not is not my intention I wanted to express concern over the nature and tone of the discussion.
I do believe that sitting around slapping your back or the web equivalent of high fiving over being ‘right’ about misfortune is wrong and sends an negative message to the women SOME of you claim to be concerned about. SOME commentators made insightful comments OTHERS simply made negative self serving comments about the community as whole- these are the people I take issue with not everyone on the board.
No, you don’t owe it to anyone to not be condescending and self-important, but that’s not the best way to get your message across. Especially concerning such a complex and sensitive issue.

If the discussion disturbed me I would not have bothered to engage I’m full capable of taking criticism, but I don’t owe it to you or this page to agree with you just to make a good first impression.

“Disagreeing with the general tone does not make me a troll. Trolls typically say things only to incite anger, that was not is not my intention I wanted to express concern over the nature and tone of the discussion.”

“Concern trolling” is also a form of trolling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)#Concern_troll

“A concern troll is a false flag pseudonym created by a user whose actual point of view is opposed to the one that the user claims to hold. The concern troll posts in Web forums devoted to its declared point of view and attempts to sway the group’s actions or opinions while claiming to share their goals, but with professed “concerns”.”

So….yeah, there’s an app for that.

It’s one thing to say:

“First let’s not accept all statistics on the strength of our willingness to believe them. Let’s remember that correlation does not equal causation. Poverty is also linked to obesity, abuse and weight gain. Level of education is liked to abuse and weight. This is to say that being abused is not necessarily the cause of obesity for the majority of Americans. What was the average age of the women interviewed, what was their level of income and education? All of these things play into obesity. It’s complex issue”

It’s quite another to say:

“If you are truly concerned talk to those people don’t sit on your high horse and look down at someone going on about how pathetic they are. If you are worried about child’s safety say something it is so easy to look down at others and that’s the exact reason that people get abused and live with mental illness unaddressed.”

1.) No one here called anyone pathetic. You got snippy with me for apparently misquoting you, and yet here YOU are putting words in everyone’s mouth. Pot meet kettle?

2.) Again, I did NOT take to the implication that I’d rather “sit on my high horse” than identify and report abuse or am an actual abuser. It is also a fallacy to compare theorization and discussion of obesity to either of those items. Again, CONCERN TROLLS like to try and emotionally guilt or manipulate community members in order to derail them into silence.

If you were that interested in genuinely sharing your opinion, you could have left it at the first quote. And that would have been awesome. It’s great to have other alternative viewpoints to throw around as to why this is a problem. People can think about their own health and habits and what might be impacting them if it’s NOT this.

But if that’s not what you want, it would be better if you just moved on to another topic. We will not stop having these posts just because they make people uncomfortable. One of the actual causes of obesity and health issues in the black community is SILENCE.

Brenda55

@XgreengreenX @Toni_M
Well you can’t win them all and you can’t please them all. Sure thats being flip but there you have it.

This site is not ever going to make every reader happy. It is what it is. We all get to express ourselves….so long as you all remain with in the TOS that is.

It is OK to disagree that’s is cool. I don’t think that you are a troll for doing so.

BUT THIS? ” condescending and self-important” “self congratulatory”. You are slinging adjectives around pretty good there yourself self. You can dish it out with the best of us.

Discussing weight and any form of dysfunction with in the black community seems to be the third rail among black women. Some take it personally. Well they should it is their story and none of us have to like it. One thing for certain we will continue to blog these issues because people have things to get off their chest re. weight, abuse and, dysfunction. We do not sweep under the rug to spare tender sensibilities.

Here you wear the big girl panties.

XgreengreenX

@Toni_M

XgreengreenX

@Brenda55 @Toni_M

The point I was trying to make got across obesity is a complex and intertwined problem. Yes, I used hurtful smarmy words, but posters like Dee and yourself used similar terms to discourage anyone from posting an opinion that did not directly go alone with what you wanted to see. It implied that anyone who disagreed was a ‘bad ‘not concerned not engaged person.

Toni- Please do not hijack this post as a glorified soapbox to try and silence us because you’re tired of us telling you something you for whatever reason couldn’t be bothered to scroll past. It’s simple: There are tabs up top, please use them, and leave this post to actual participants. Not polite poisoners, not trolls, not persons clearly disinterested in health concerns regarding black women.

That whole quote implied that anyone with an opinion that did not suit you was already wrong and not concerned about health. Yes, I took it personally because being skeptical is not a crime and saying there are nuances people are missing in this problem is not meant to silence anyone. My goal was not to silence, but to be heard. I found your tone to be condensing and insulting given the fact that you where asking people to not ‘ruffle feathers.” I felt that was unfair, but found the majority of the comments interesting. Just because someone has something to say doesn’t mean you have to be quite that wasn’t my goal and I know this conversation will continue without me.

It’ annoying that someone can enjoy most aspect of a discussion and try to address what they don’t like and be accused of being in support of not talking about problems in the black community. Uh No, this subject has been talked about for years as someone has already stated. The way we discuss it clearly isn’t working. Calling black single mothers bad parents or anyone who is concerned about the implications of one set of data a silencer is also not working. These people to not hear through accusation- I’ve made that mistake and for that I am sorry.

I only used myself as an example to drive home the point that this problem is complex and that several things play into these health problem not just ‘bad black mothering- which DeeDee seemed so proud to target.
Sorry if I managed to offend everyone on this forum by speaking my mind. This is a sensitive subject and dos cause emotions to run high. Ya’ll are right Obviously , I need to find a location where I agree with everyone. I won’t lurk or comment here again.

***concerned trolls typically try to down play the significance of a subject or give false advice- I never said this problem wasn’t significant I just an worried that it will fall into the category of incurable truth- negative stereotype that people use to make themselves feel better and to latch onto the worst aspects of a community and fester there with not helpful solutions.
–

Brenda55

@XgreengreenX @Toni_M
“The point I was trying to make got across obesity is a complex and intertwined problem. Yes, I used hurtful smarmy words, but posters like Dee and yourself used similar terms to discourage anyone from posting an opinion that did not directly go alone with what you wanted to see. It implied that anyone who disagreed was a ‘bad ‘not concerned not engaged person.”

Oh I got your point. I am overweight myself. I agree with you.

My point to you is are you attempting to do to us what you are accusing us of doing to you? Take a hard look at this.

My attitude is when you throw your hat into the ring you take your chances. We are not trying to do the mean girls thing here that some love to accuse us of. We do like robust and animated conversation. If that is not your taste then cool. This is an established community, the tone is what it is some like it and some like yourself do not.

@Toni_M @XgreengreenX boy somebody jumped fast, we’re not particularly talking about you commenter, we are talking in general we’re not even talking all. No one said ALL here but if she feels the need to defend herself so vehemently when we’re talking about some ppl not ALL overweight bw I would say maybe she’s over-reacting. No one is gleeful about any person being abused & I’d call it sick to even suggest that. We’re just bringing something to light, I’m overweight & haven’t been abused. So what the hell do that mean, nothing. But I’d be remiss & downright blind to act as if some folks who are overweight & obese are that way b/c they have personal issues. I think our commenter should stick her head in the sand somewhere else, that don’t fly here.

@eugeniaberg @Toni_M @XgreengreenX I’m also working on my own weight. I kind of laugh when people pop up in here offended like we’re a bunch of mean skinny girls who know NOTHING.

Um, no. Just because I’ve lost quite a bit of weight doesn’t mean I don’t have further to go. The posts about health and exercise are very helpful and informal to me, and I know I’m not alone.

These people ALWAYS pop up, thinking someone’s talking about them and mad as Hell while declaring that something “isn’t them”. If it’s not you then it’s not you. Scroll on.

Some of us want and need these discussions. These people are kidding themselves if they think the best way to handle topics that make them uncomfortable is to try and convince other people to not have them. Escapism and Ignoring issues is popular in the so-called BC, so it’s hardly surprising to me that this is the go to tactic for people who show up here.

@XgreengreenX What they hay are you talking about?
PLEASE …SO many BW and girls were and continue to be molested and stress eat due to it.
If you’re not one of them or you’re not empathtic to them (as I am) why this defensive stance?

@XgreengreenX Oh so this is your FIRST post??? Sorry Imma say it: smells like a TROLL.

VintageNarcissa

@XgreengreenX I don’t believe anyone is particularly happy about the correlation between abuse in the black community and high obesity rates. We are simply stating that it is so and it is an issue that needs addressing. Because it’s face it, no one else is talking about it. Please, pull up a black-centric web site that is actually discussing such deep rooted issues about the black community. Don’t worry, we’ll wait.

I was once overweight as a child and teen, but never obese. Now I’m a normal weight through healthy diet and exercise. I’m not ashamed to say that I come from a dysfunctional family where I experienced physical and emotional abuse. I’ve also been sexually abused. I could probably have easily been apart of this stat, but I’m not. Does that make me special? Not really. I just happen to be one person for whom the outcome was a little different. Am I proud about that? Yes, because that’s what I did to better my life and overcome my circumstance.

Correlation does in fact not prove causation. But its pretty damn close. And to say that there’s no link just because because it doesn’t apply to you, well that’s just irresponsible honestly. While I will say you are very fortunate to have never been so, you my dear yourself are not some special unicorn because you’re obese and have never been abused. It does not mean that there are not many girls and women experiencing abuse that will or have triggered or exacerbated their problems with their weight. Just because this is not your case does not mean that the issue should be swept under the rug. This issue needs to be addressed and discussed in detail. No use getting butt hurt over the logistics of language used over the internet. Maybe you’re not a troll. But you’re basically an apologist making excuses. And that’s just as bad. We’re not going to be silenced because you got your feelings hurt.

Personally, I do believe it better to have learned through observation than to have learned from experience in this case. To be quite frank, you say you don’t want your obesity to be stereotyped with sexual abuse… Well, I don’t want the fact that I’m black and female to be stereotyped with obesity and have people coming up to me and saying wow, you’re fit for a black girl, aren’t you all supposed to be fat?

I applaud this study because it actually delves into one of the *many* reasons why black women are overweight in this country rather than just pointing out a stat that a large portion of black women are overweight, full stop. It seems logical that if we know why this issue even exists, we can do a lot more to help resolve it. This study could possibly be a stepping stone to researching the plethora of things wrong with the black community. A lot of people need to see these harsh truths.

What are you embarrassed at the mockery that much of the black community has become? Well you should be, because we are too. And we’ve noticed that many of the black people who are actually doing well for themselves, they simply turn the other way and single themselves out. “Oh, well that’s not me so you can’t say all.” Well if you’re part of a minority in saying that it’s doesn’t really matter if “that’s not you.” The majority of your people are in fact suffering in one way or another. Are you really not going to stand up and try to do you part to help because of wording?

So maybe we’re on high horses. But we’re on these horses saying this needs to change because black women as a whole deserve better than this. We deserve a lot better that to have our lives debased to a bunch of negative statistics.

DeeDee, MixedInLasVegas, Eugenia, Toni, BWDB, and B55…….love all of your solid, strong and valid points with Black women and weight……with molestation as causation, in many instances, with weight,

I’ve never been sexually molested (raped) so thank you Jesus Christ.

However, I can relate very much with weight matter in that my mother (from “The South”), after my sperm-donor (“father”) left us with a myriad of damage from the “divorce” train wreck and aftermath, she’d ballooned to 60lbs over her core body weight which would have been around 150lbs to over 200lbs at 5’3″ tall, very heavy. I know this in that during those times, I’d say jr high school, maybe 8th grade or so, she’d send me to the store to go and get “Devil Dogs”, “Little Debbies”, “Vienna Sausages”, “HoHo’s”, you know, all that. I kinda / sorta understood in that we were “thrown into the manhole under the bus” and both she and I were in a “world of hurt”. It was her coping mechanism, wonderin’ how we gon’ survive, what we gon’ do, how we gon’ make it……….extremely difficult days.

Here it is 30+ years later still shedding tears over those days……..I still have to wonder…….sometimes……….

An adult now myself, though we haven’t dealt well since my latter teen-aged years / early 20s in that the damage (never have understood why she fought for that “persons” love whom had none for her nor I) was done and, frankly, still wreaking havoc on me and what little “relationship” there is that she and I (so-called) have……..

I, myself, gained some weight in my 30s after having been physically fit most of my youth and now am currently, but had “let myself go” due to life events at that time. It’s ironic now that folk think I look strange without my “horse” (bicycle)………..”where’s your bike?” is what I get from folk when other work is availed to me and that I must travel to another city on public transport (don’t want to have to worry about bike too when traveling) lol.

Just my 2 pennies.

MixedUpInVegas

@DeepWater
I hardly know a soul who has not struggled with weight at least sometime in her life. To some degree it is the price we pay for prosperity. But clearly there is much, much more to it than that. If there were one simple cause-and-effect answer, someone would have found a nearly universally successful treatment for the problem. That person would be rolling in the bucks, too.

I don’t think anyone here has been cavalier about the problem; it touches almost all of us, either directly or indirectly. While some of our commentors have been more animated in their discussion, that simply tells me that they feel strongly about it. It is a matter of life or death, or at least a matter of the quality of life for many of us and our sisters in the gender. If speaking out forcefully for a more healthy lifestyle will make a difference in some woman’s life, please wait a moment while I get my megaphone.

DeepWater

@MixedUpInVegas Oh, I don’t assume anyone here is cavalier about weight, I’ve completely changed (most of) my diet, more green and colorful vegetables, less meat, less salt and sugar and refined flours. Honey, I can eat, (my man loves it “more energy” he says, we know what for…..lol) straight up. I’m a big girl, not “fat” or “skinny”, slim, not slender. I will (sigh) always need to “keep a nekkid eyeball” on my weight…..bwaaahaaa!

@DeepWater @MixedUpInVegas Even though I’m straight I love BW more than anyone (womanism) yet I don’t velvet glove them nor deny the rampant abuse they suffer. Yes many BW are fat cause they simply want to overeat and not get exercise and many others are fat due to mental distress caused by trauma.

“Yes, I used hurtful smarmy words, but posters like Dee and yourself used similar terms to discourage anyone from posting an opinion that did not directly go alone with what you wanted to see.”
That was from @XgreengreenX

I’ll say it again, trolling. Lots of crazy and off topic assumptions there.
Hell, I WANT BW to chime in on this post about the TOPIC : Stress eating from trauma! Not to derail and ignore the core issue, as this person is clearly doing. Sorry no can do.

I’ve seen this game played out here at BBW before. Some disgruntled person angry that we don’t follow the Black collectives head-in-the sand attitude about BW’s trauma comes here telling us all sorts of nonsense to get off the topic.

Anyone with two eyes can see that too many BW are obese. Anyone with two eyes can see that many Black households are lead by women. Anyone with a logical brain can make the hypothosis between various abuse and obesity.

To me, who is not a mental health professional but has lived long enough to see much it makes sense that child abuse in Black communities would be connected to lots of bad stuff including obesity!

So what can we do about it to improve the lives of Black women and girls?

Have fun with that, dear troll. Expect no response from me cause you aren’t here for solutions you’re here to derail.

@DeeDeeRussell , I’m with you. I said my peace and offered my suggestions (sane ones for someone absolutely determined NOT to have a discussion), and am moving on. The easiest way to ignore derailment is to not respond to persons, especially when they make it clear that they aren’t listening to you, and want to guilt you into silence.

It’s always been like that, but as I’ve said repeatedly, I’ve no interest in being shut up. If persons don’t like or feel a topic is for them, they are welcome to scroll. I do it all the time for various sites. It’s really not that difficult.

@DeeDeeRussell Though I do admit that it amuses me when people post comments with the purpose of derailment and shutting down discussion and get mad at you when you “discourage them” from doing so.

I don’t understand how refusing to allow someone to censor discussion is itself censorship. A person is more than welcome to participate in a topic….just not make it their business to goad everyone into a corner because they personally have an issue with the “tone” of other members.

TBH, I don’t think there’s any sort of tone where these discussions can occur where SOMEBODY isn’t going to get mad and try and shut us up. It never fails.

crazyde3

I’ve been lurking on this sight for the past four days and I just love it! You guys always bring up valid points. I do think that abuse is one of the factors that have a lot of our women in the BC obese. I think Big Daddy upstairs was looking out big time for me because my mother always made sure to tell me if anyone touched me in anyway that wasn’t right I had to go straight to her. She didn’t care who it was. And you know what someone did try something and she nipped in the bud with full backing from my father. I was lucky in that Before anything serious could happen to destroy my innocence my mother took precautions. If we had more of this in the BC instead trying to cover things up then things would be a whole lot different for a lot of BW.

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